7 - Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory. 5th to 21st September

 

Entry 7 – 5^th to 21^th Sept., Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory.

Leaving Kakadu, two days later and about 300 kilometres up the road we arrived at Wangi Falls campground in Litchfield National Park. It was about 11.30 am and the campground was only at about 25% capacity, indicating the extreme heat of the last few weeks had taken its toll on the normally crowded campground.

Our preferred solar friendly camp site was vacant but we still walked around the campground to view all the other vacant camp sites. We decided to try another campsite, with enough solar access to satisfy our battery power supply needs, including a tree which offered some shade for a couple of hours during the day, providing some personal shady comfort.

Shortly after our arrival we were in the refreshing falls waters enjoying a cool down in the cool but not too cold water. With further cool down dips during the progression of setting camp.

The 7-day weather forecast predictions showed one day at 36 C which ironically, we were looking forward to, with the rest 37 – 39 degrees. Thankfully the fire risk was declared to be high without the mention of the very scary word, catastrophic enabling us to feel comfortable with our surroundings.

Our daily ritual started, when we woke near sunrise, usually between 7-8 am with a refreshing morning dip and swim out under the fall’s waters, breakfast, followed by several dips, on need during the day, concluding with a final night time dip at bed time regardless the hour. Our night time dip just as refreshing as any other with the bonus of a star filled sky providing wonderful karma vibes for sleep time.

Our bodies seemed to be acclimatising, more accepting of the hot conditions. We primarily lingered around our camp with our fans providing air movement tingling our damp skin and the other half of the day in the fall’s waters. We exercised splashing about in the falls water with the added exertion of a 500-metre walk to the falls = about 5 kilometres plus, walking each day, though at a sedate rate due to thong footwear. We also partook in some Pilates workouts under the awning during the coolness (27 degrees) of the early mornings.

The setting provided by nature was a bit different for each visit to the falls. One morning the air just above the lake surface was awash with dragon flies, some red, blue, green and brown. Some evenings we timed it right for viewing many hundreds of overhead flying foxes launching from their nearby daytime tree residence in search of food over the night.

Some days it would be windless at camp but the falls area would be quite windy from the air movement created by the fall’s waters and visas versa other times. The sky above the falls would have a variety of birds enjoying the updraft winds formed by the fall’s water. Often, we would have different coloured dragon flies enjoying rest time perched on our hats or on our floatation noodles. Then there was the visiting human factor and their different antics. At times when people were blocking access to the water with no consideration of other people nearby, Steve would push his way through the stair entrance into the water and launch into the water, trying to produce a big belly flop wetting people standing at the entrance, resulting in some form of comments. Most times it did clear a path for Mary to follow.

It was true euphoria on the rare occasion we had the unspoilt waters to ourselves. Each time we were in the fall’s pool one of us would exclaim “this is so nice!”, what a wonderful oasis we have here.

It had been 9 days since we had last used the tow tug, as we had chosen to stay put, close to the cooling waters of Wangi Falls. The latest seven-day weather forecast was looking better without the severe energy sapping 37 to 39-degree temperatures of the last few weeks with the latest forecast prediction of about 34 – 36-degree maximums. We started discussing options to explore some other locations in Litchfield National Park. We picked out the first 34 degree predicted day time temperature to drive up the road about 10 kilometres to explore the Tolmer Creek falls walking trail. We woke that morning to see the weather forecast had been changed with temperatures from that day of 36 to 38 degrees over the next 7 days. We still did the walk enjoying the exercise but felt a bit flat the rest of the day, possibly due to a bit of heat exhaustion.

Most other people were staying 1 to 3 nights at the campground with regular comments, “we’re moving because it’s too hot.” Over the following week there was the regular bureau of meteorology warnings to enact your bush fire survival plan due to extreme weather conditions. A couple of times the campground was shrouded with smoke and we semi packed up camp in-case of the need for a quick getaway. While we also checked the web for the fire location – not too close to us hopefully.

It was such a wonderful relaxing environment. We had no pressing set timelines, choosing to be enchanted by the Wangi Falls atmosphere for as long as we were able. One day on our way to the falls water Mary stopped at the loo. Once seated she pulled at the paper from the dispensing cassette and a large gecko tumbled out landing on her leg. There was the mandatory screaming with some laughter and more screams. She did appreciate the cooling waters to settle down her heart rate.

The caravan windows were wide open during the daylight and night-time hours allowing free flow of air movement for its cooling effects. Bed time we would leave the curtains open, waking in the morning, watching the sun rising on the horizon from bed, admiring our beautiful green surroundings.

Day 12 at Wangi Falls and the bureau of meteorology changed the long-range weather forecast again! This was around the fourth change to the predicted weather forecast since our arrival. Now they were predicting rain for six days straight ranging from 10% chance of rain to 40% with daily rain fall up to 5 millimetres, still with daytime high temperatures of 35 to 38 degrees.

A couple of days later it did rain with Steve getting out in the rain to help clean the outer dirt layer from the caravan. The temperature was around 34 degrees making for a comfortable working environment and he could see the dirt being washed away.

After 18 nights at Wangi Falls campground we decided to start travelling south putting a bit of distance between us and the nearby city of Darwin, primarily due to the start of school holidays in a couple of days.

The Wangi Falls environment for us was a paradise, providing much delightful pleasure.

We hadn’t felt the need, to move on to explore elsewhere at any time. The only fallout from staying so long, it had been, 3 ½ weeks since our last shop with no fresh food left. But interestingly, we assessed we had enough other long-life food to sustain us for at least another week. Sadly, Mary needed to retire a pair of thongs after experiencing a blowout walking to the falls.

Unfortunately, we then had a reality check. Above was to be the final draught describing our Litchfield National Park experience.

After Steve had finished scrubbing the outside of the caravan in the rain we decided to go for another dip as it had stopped raining. Mary got to within 3 metres of the falls lake when she slipped with one leg travelling horizontal away from her and the other crumpling inwards under her. Resulting with a lacerated knee, a chunk of skin missing, another chunk of skin missing off her foot and several tiny rock granules stuck in the palms of her hands.

Steve put Mary in the campground shower to wash her wounds and raided our first aid kit, patching her up. A phone call to the hospital help line and it seemed we had patched her up satisfactory and was recommended to follow up the following day with a medical assessment.

Thus, we left Litchfield National Park at 7 am the following morning, two days earlier than planned. We attended the Katherine Hospital emergency section waiting for three hours watching too many people come in after us being seen, most coming out within a few minutes and leaving. It was decided that Steve should go to the shops to get some food and return to sit with Mary. He hadn’t been gone for a minute when Mary was attended to by a doctor. Evidently Steve should have gone much earlier.

Mary had her wounds rewashed, poked and new bandages applied, which came loose within a short time, nowhere near as good as Steve’s bandaging. We booked into a caravan park, turned on the air-conditioner and Mary lay on the bed and went to sleep.

It was time to rethink our plans, discounting a week of planned water activities around Mataranka, no longer an option for Mary. Mmm more research.

6 - Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. 29th August to 5th September.

 

Entry 6 – 29^th August to 5^th Sept., Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory.

We spent our time in Darwin catching up with some maintenance on the tow tug and caravan. We attended the Darwin visitor centre attaining the latest information for sights to see, (what was open and what was not operating.) We enjoyed the Parap markets, some ‘city’ shopping and were delighted with time spent walking through Darwin’s botanical gardens.

The daily temperature was hovering mostly around the 33 - 35 C mark and our caravan air conditioner provided a nice comfortable air temperature of about 23 degrees in the confines of our mobile home. For us having access to mains power is the only positive from paying out unnecessary money to stay in a caravan park to operate our air conditioner during a rare heat wave. Away from Darwin and its ocean side location, most other ‘nearby’ regions were experiencing 36 – 38 daily maximums without an accessible ocean cooling advantage.

Once Steve’s Dad’s medical condition had settled, we decided to do the ‘loop,’ through Kakadu National Park. With the relaxing of recent bush fire warnings, we headed towards Kakadu with our first stop in the Mary River National Park at a bush campground just off the main road.

Late afternoon we disconnected the caravan and drove a bit further on, away from the main road to a camp we had previously visited in 2016. Shady Campground had its own Crocodile viewing hide and we were hoping to view some similar sights from 2016 when there were about 30 salt water Crocodiles sunning on the banks of Mary River a regular sight in 2016. Disappointingly we only spotted 4 Crocodiles and were pleased we hadn’t towed the caravan in as the road was much rougher than we remembered.

One thing still the same at shady campground was the number of noisy cockatoos.

The following morning our camp side river was clouded by a mist.

 

Heading into Kakadu our first stop was at Mamukala wetlands. What a delightful wetland with an abundance of bird life.

We arrived at Jabiru the main populated location in Kakadu National Park. This the year of covid-19 closures, we knew it was going to be a 50/50 chance with what was open and what was not. Strike one: the purpose-built information centre was closed (with a large aboriginal work force avoiding any contact with non-aboriginals) and a temporary information centre set up in the Crocodile Hotel. Strike two: it was 12.30 pm and the table allocated for information in the front foyer of the hotel was unattended with attendance between 10 & 12 noon and 2 to 4 pm.

We decided to head up the road setting camp in the National Park, Merl campground with the bonus of hot showers available but no power. The temperature was at 37 C and we did utilize the cold tap in the showers not bothering to dry off after our showers, aiding with the cooling for our bodies.

We did check out the nearby ‘Cahills Crossing,’ viewing about a dozen saltwater crocodiles moving about in the waters of the East Alligator River.

Late afternoon we made our way to the Ubirr Aboriginal Rock Art site where we climbed up a rocky lookout to view the vast Nadab floodplain and watch the sun setting over the floodplain. Our previous visit to this same location in 2016 we were set to watch the sunset but were invaded by bus loads of tourists causing us to abandon any attempt to view the sunset. We were hoping for some quiet time at the lookout without the bus loads of tourists that are now absent in these covid-19 times. We were surprised to find the carpark at near capacity, thankfully absent of buses and a large volume of mostly locals, (Australians) all with a similar idea to enjoy Kakadu without the normal crowded conditions. At least they were a polite mob, respecting other nearby people’s space.

The following morning, we were up early returning to the Ubirr Aboriginal Rock Art site where we spent time viewing the magnificent rock art in the more comfortable morning temperatures. We even climbed up the rocky lookout to view the Nadab floodplain for a final look.

At about 11 am we returned to Cahills Crossing with its opportune tide time, where the fast-flowing tidal waters of East Alligator River cause many fish to be washed over the causeway with about 40 salt water Crocodiles gathering, hoping to snatch a fresh fish meal. It was awesome viewing.

We returned to the campground, reconnected our caravan with our tow tug and cooled down with a cold shower. We returned to Jabiru where we obtained some information on available locations of interest further down the road.

The outside temperature was at 37 C, we were feeling hot and tired and set camp a bit down the road in a bush camp. There was a billabong alongside of the campground and Mary spotted a couple of Jabiru birds providing us with a delightful encounter with our first sighting of the rarely seen Jabiru bird.

The long-range weather forecast wasn’t looking agreeable with energy sapping temperatures of 37, 38, 39, 39, 38, blah, blah and just plain unbearable. Once again, we were mobile by 7 am to take advantage of the more acceptable early morning cooler temperatures. By 8 am we were walking along the Nourlangie rock art site viewing the gallery of paintings. Nearby we walked to a lookout and a billabong.

It was near mid-day and our walking was done for the day. We set camp down the road a bit utilizing the available showers several times over the afternoon to cool down. We couldn’t remember when we last used hot water since arriving in the Northern Territory. Once we were north of Tennant Creek the daily hot temperatures negated the use of hot water. Our last hot cuppa; seemed to have been so long ago. We only cooked when necessary and even then, it was in preparation for several future meals to be eaten cold. We were now camped nearby the Yellow Water Billabong and booked our places for the sunrise cruise the following morning.

We woke the following morning to the noise of our 5.45 am alarm. It wasn’t a likeable wakening as the temperature at that time of the day was far more pleasurable for providing a rejuvenating sleep.

It was a perfect morning setting with the billabong shrouded in mist for our cruise along crocodile inhabited waters.

Two boats departed at the same time and the below picture was our other twin boat for the morning cruise.

The first thing we saw coming out of the mist covered waters was a crocodile with its morning catch, a whole wild pig held tight in its jaws. The only thing missing was some dramatic background music to heighten the atmosphere.

Then the sun appeared on the horizon and on queue another crocodile appeared (on the left of picture) for the perfect “Yellow Waters Sunrise Cruise,” setting.

Even our tour guide was chuffed with their first ten minutes of work for the day considering they had no control over the wild elements of Kakadu and its nature. We continued cruising along enjoying many more crocodile encounters. It reiterated, you don’t or should we say in no way would you venture into Kakadu vast waterways other than a couple of the declared safe waterholes which are regularly monitored for any unwanted arrivals.

We did get to see a mob of wild pigs running in the distance, probably still in shock from losing one of their numbers when close to the water’s edge.

There were the many different varieties of birds.

And we even got some close-up photographs of a Jabiru.

We had spoken to many people over the last month whom all commented about their satisfaction with the Yellow Waters Cruise. Yes, it is a commercial operation located in Kakadu in a location with an abundance of wildlife. Appreciably the wildlife does put in an appearance, satisfying our desire to view the wildlife in their natural habitat, adding to our tick of approval.

After a very acceptable two-hour cruise we returned to our caravan, reconnecting it with our tow tug and we decided to head out of Kakadu, returning to Litchfield National Park where we could spend all the time we liked, in the cooling waters of Wangi Falls during these extremely hot temperatures.